


quiet nights poured over ice

by amsves



Category: Free!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, F/M, Future Fic, Injury, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Walk Into A Bar, look at me writing the heterosexuals, past crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 01:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11117424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: Yamazaki Sousuke and Matsuoka Gou walk into a bar.(Or, how, seven years later, some things have changed and some things haven't.)





	quiet nights poured over ice

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Fools" by Troye Sivan.

They meet, as fate would have it, on a rainy night.

Gou’s weather app had neglected to inform her of the incoming summer squall, and she is thoroughly soaked. Wet feet slip and slide in sopping shoes as she trudges through the rain. It’s not so far, or else she would wait out the rain in a shop of some kind; as it stands, she’s only a few blocks away from her location of choice when she quite literally bumps into an old friend.

 “Sousuke?” she inquires as the figure’s umbrella is held over her head. “What are you doing here?”

Sousuke gives a small smile as the rain pours down on his no-longer-protected body. “Taking a walk. I should really be asking  _ you _ what  _ you’re  _ doing, given that you’re without an umbrella in this storm.” 

Gou pushes some of her soggy bangs out of her face. “I forgot one,” she replies lamely, and Sousuke chuckles lightly. “And my destination isn’t far, so …”

“So you decided to brave the rain,” Sousuke finishes. “I have to admit, that sounds like you. Where’re you headed, anyways?”

“Bar Lupin,” she supplies.

Sousuke raises an eyebrow. “In such desperate need for some liquor that you ventured out in this weather?”

Gou shrugs. “It’s been a rough night.”

“And it’s only,” Sousuke checks his watch, “Seven thirty. I think I’m beginning to understand.” He smiles again, and doesn’t that twist Gou’s insides into all sorts of emotions she’s not up to feeling at the moment. “Shall we go, then?”

Gou blinks. “Are you going there, too?”

“Well, I didn’t have any particular destination in mind, but my umbrella seems to have been pressed into service by a lovely lady and what kind of gentleman would I be if I left you out in the rain?” Sousuke turns and starts down the street. Gou stands there, dumbfounded, until the rain resumes its incessant pounding on her head and she realizes that her refuge is on the run. She breaks into a jog to catch him. 

They don’t talk again until they’re safely inside the bar and seated at the counter. Gou had been right; it was only a few blocks more. She orders a Long Island Iced Tea; Sousuke chooses a Whiskey Sour. He waits until she’s half-finished with her drink of choice to ask her, “So, why the rough night?”

Gou swallows. “I got dumped.”

“Ah,” Sousuke replies, ever terse, and takes a sip of his own drink. “Hence, the alcohol.”

“Never hurts,” she agrees, taking another sip.

“Want to talk about it?” Sousuke offers.

“Not really,” Gou declines, and finishes her drink. She waves for another.

“Are you even old enough to drink?” Sousuke teases. 

Gou doesn’t take the joke; she glares at him with those burgundy eyes so similar to her brother’s. “I’m  _ twenty-five _ , Sousuke. Not fifteen.” 

Sousuke throws up his hands in mock-surrender as Gou takes a long sip of her second drink. “What was his name?” he asks, and Gou splutters. “I know, I know. You don’t want to talk about it. But I want to hear about it.” She opens her mouth to interrupt him, and he holds a finger to her lips. “Call it payment for the loan of my umbrella.”

Gou sighs in exasperation but obliges all the same. “His name was Kazuki, Minami Kazuki. He had long brown hair and periwinkle eyes and muscles for days, and he dumped me via a text four hours ago.” She rests her head in her hands. “It wasn’t too serious; we’d only been dating for six months or so and four exclusively, but, still …” She lets the sentence hang, unwilling to finish it. ‘ _ I thought we had a chance, _ ’ maybe, or ‘ _ My brother’s getting married soon enough to a guy he’s known since elementary school and I’m twenty-five and still have yet to make it through a whole year with the same guy _ .’ 

Sousuke places a steadying hand on her shoulder but offers no words. Gou doesn’t mind. She isn’t sure what she wants to hear. 

Sousuke finishes his own drink. “I finished therapy a month ago,” he starts, “But a few days ago, they wanted me to try swimming again. So I did, and promptly undid all of my hard work from the last seven years in the span of a few hours.” His second is placed in front of him; he takes a long sip before continuing. “It was going well enough, but I got excited. I started pushing myself, stopped listening to the warning signs, and then … I’m back to wearing the brace, now.”

Gou lifts her head, face frozen in shock and sympathy. “That’s … Sousuke, I’m so sorry.”

Sousuke waves off her concern. “It’s my own fault. I was being stupid. But you, you did nothing to deserve that insensitive jerk.”

Gou snorts. “No, I think maybe I did. It’s no secret that I like muscles, and I think that, maybe, I let my physical attraction overshadow any emotional connection we might have made. What a mistake.” She swirls the alcohol still in her glass. “He was the most enthusiastic guy I’ve met in a while, and probably ever, save for Nagisa and Momotarou. He was really all-in.” She sips. “What a mistake.”

Sousuke raises his glass. “A toast, then. To mistakes.” Gou looks at him like he’s lost his mind. “Without them, we wouldn’t be who we are today,” he clarifies. “And, where we are today. If either one of us had stopped to use our head, we might not be sitting in this bar this very moment, and it might have been many years before we saw each other again.”

“We would’ve seen each other at the wedding,” Gou counters, but clinks her glass against his anyways. 

“Speaking of, are you in the wedding party?”

“Yeah, I’m Rin’s best man,” Gou answers, a light flush dominating her cheeks. “Rather ironic, as I’m his sister, but I suppose my manly name makes up for it.” Sousuke hmms. “What about you? I mean, I know you’re not in the party, but you are going, right?”

“Of course,” Sousuke assures her. “I’d never miss Rin’s big day. 

“He’s being quite the Bridezilla,” Gou informs him. “Which is fine, I suppose, given that Haru could get married in a pool and see nothing wrong with it. Seriously, it’s like Rin’s the only one getting married. Haru doesn’t care about anything other than the groom.” 

“Really?” Sousuke questions. 

“Oh, totally,” Gou assures him. “Just the other day we went suit shopping, or tried to, at least. Rin wants Haru to wear black while he himself wears white. He had Haru try on at least a dozen suits and there was always something to complain about. This one’s too tight in the leg, this one’s too loose in the shoulders, this one’s not  _ black _ enough, this one’s  _ too _ black. I think Haru fell asleep halfway through.”

Sousuke can picture the scene all too well. He supposes that’s a testament to his friendship with Rin through the years, that even when they haven’t spoken in months he can imagine every detail. 

They lapse back into silence as each finishes their second drink. It’s comfortable, not imposing, but Gou breaks it anyway. “Y’know,” she drawls, alcohol slurring her speech ever so slightly, “When we were in high school, I used to have a crush on you.”

Sousuke doesn’t show his surprise; he keeps his profile blank as he responds, “What a coincidence. I had one on you, too.

Gou turns sharply to face him. “What? Why?”

“Shouldn’t you be explaining yourself first?”

Gou huffs. “Well, obviously, it started because of your amazing muscles,” she admits, “But, after a while, I realized just how kind you were to me, and Rin, too. Even when Rin was in one of his months-long funks, you never gave up on him. And that time at the school festival, when Momotarou soaked me with that squirt gun, you gave me your blazer. And, I dunno …” she trails off. “What about you?”

“At first, I thought of you as my own sister, since I never had any of my own,” Sousuke offers, “But then we went a few years without seeing each other, and when we met again, you struck me with how beautiful you were. And not just physically, either. You carried yourself like a young woman: shoulders back, head up, looking me squarely in the eye, a bounce in your step. You looked so  _ sure _ of yourself that I couldn’t help but fall in love with you just a little.

The air between them is full of unspoken words. Gou, once again, speaks first. “Do you still?”

“Have a crush on you?” Gou nods. “Maybe.”

“ _ Maybe? _ ” she returns, indignant. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Sousuke replies, “That I may or may not still have a crush on you. It depends.”

“On what?” Gou prompts. Sure, she’s probably crossed several lines tonight, but she can’t find it in herself to care. Maybe it’s the alcohol. She should probably stop drinking for the night.

“On whether you like me back.”

Gou’s answer comes in the form of a finger trailed lightly along Sousuke’s bicep, of a delicate hand threaded through his short hair, of lips pressed to his in an alcohol-fueled but still clear-headed kiss.

Sousuke kisses back.

**Author's Note:**

> chant into the void with me at senpai-san.tumblr.com


End file.
